Rewatchables Reference

• Bill: The opening scene – Stallone standing in the highway shooting at the truck, the 'Rambo is a pussy' line, the billion-dollar cocaine bust.
• Bill: The prison sequence – walking in through fire and litter, the electrocution scene.
• Bill (winner): The prison escape – double cross that turns out not to be a double cross, zipline, the stick-through-the-fan, jumping to the electric cable.
• Bill: The strip joint scene – Teri Hatcher drumming, Cash in drag escaping.
• Shea: Walking into prison for the first time – 'I forgot the marshmallows.'

• Bill: The characters cracking jokes in life-threatening situations instead of being scared.
• Bill: Jack Palance winning the Oscar for 'City Slickers' a year later – 'The odds of Jack Palance winning an Oscar after this movie: 70,001.'
• Bill: Young Teri Hatcher – probably her first bigger movie before Seinfeld and Lois & Clark.
• Shea (winner): Kurt Russell as an action star – 'You forget that Kurt Russell belongs in that conversation' with Stallone and Schwarzenegger.
• Bill: The movie created/popularized 'FUBAR.'

• Bill: Yazoo's 'Don't Go' when Teri Hatcher is introduced at the strip joint.
• Shea: The saxophone music when Kurt Russell steps out dressed as a woman.

Bill: The fact that 'Tango and Cash' are super cops who get framed, and everyone immediately believes they were dirty the whole time with zero pushback.

• Bill: The fake newspaper transitions – 'the LA Chronicle' used to bridge scenes; about 12 newspapers in the movie.
• Bill/Shea: The concept of superstar LA hero cops – right at the tail end before Rodney King and Daryl Gates flipped the perception of LAPD.
• Bill: The jump cuts when people die (to avoid an X rating).
• Bill: Unnecessary nude scenes crammed in (80s staple).

• Bill: The fact that there was no Tango & Cash sequel is an outrage. Stallone made multiple 'Rocky' and Rambo sequels, three Expendables, but no Tango & Cash 2.
• Shea: Tango & Cash is the second-best buddy cop movie of the 1980s, behind only 'Beverly Hills Cop'. Better than 'Lethal Weapon'.

• The film was originally called 'The Setup.' Original stars were Stallone and Patrick Swayze. Swayze dropped out to do 'Road House', and Kurt Russell replaced him.
• Bill: If Swayze stays, Kurt Russell possibly ends up in 'Road House' instead – both movies would be slightly worse.
• Robert Z'Dar and Brion James were only supposed to be in 1-2 scenes, but Stallone pushed to expand their roles as they rewrote on the fly.

• Bill: Jack Palance wins easily – 'I don't know what his motivation is for this movie.' Never veers from whatever crazy character he decided to create.
• Shea: Even at the end staring down inevitable death, Palance is 'still throwing out riddles and jokes.'

• Bill: Robert Z'Dar as Face.
• Bill: Brion James, James Hong, and Clint Howard are mentioned but noted as having graduated from 'that guy' status.
• Bill (his pick): The sweating guy from 'Total Recall' (Marc Alaimo).
• Shea (his pick): Michael 'Boogaloo Shrimp' Chambers – the biker clothes guy from Breakin'.

• Craig argues Stallone is bad – 'comedy and Stallone don't mix well.'
• Shea suggests Harrison Ford (Regarding Henry first-20-minutes energy).
• Bill: Keeping Stallone – the unintentional comedy is part of the charm.

• In September 2019, Stallone revealed he has a story written for a potential sequel and had been talking to Kurt Russell.
• The climactic quarry battle was shot in Irwindale, California; every shot used at least 11 cameras; some stunts were so dangerous the stuntmen could only do them once.
• Face (Robert Z'Dar) and Brion James were written into more scenes on the fly at Stallone's request.
• $54 million budget (over by $20M from planned $35M), made $120.4 million.

• Not Stallone, not Kurt Russell (his apex is probably mid-90s, post-'Tombstone').
• Bill: Buddy cop movies in the 80s.
• Bill: Stallone prison movies – debated between this and Lock Up; Shea picks Lock Up.
• Bill: 'Cross the beams' meta moments (character acknowledging another character the actor played) – possibly the apex.
• Bill: 'Lethal Weapon' rip-offs.

• Bill: Why would 'Tango and Cash' cop a plea / plead no contest? They get 18 months for murder.
• Bill: They get transferred to maximum security prison and nobody monitors or questions it.
• Bill: Nobody stakes out Tango's sister's apartment after they escape from prison.
• Bill: Teri Hatcher is a 'stripper who doesn't strip' – she's a drummer in a bikini.
• Bill: Jack Palance's office/lair is in a quarry in the middle of nowhere.
• Shea: The whole movie is one long picking nit.

• Bill: His brain broke trying to figure out the prestige TV version.
• Shea: You can't remake it. Maybe call Michael Mann for an 8-episode Heat-style prestige version.

• Bill: Young Steve Buscemi – 'would have been really good in this movie.' Maybe as Face's sidekick.
• Shea: Buscemi plays Clint Howard's character (the prisoner) with more lines.

Bill: The director – because three different directors accepting Best Director would have been hilarious.

• Bill: Did the movie invent FUBAR?
• Shea: Did the relationship between Cash and Kiki work out?
• Shea: What did they do the next day? They broke out of prison and killed 40 more people.

Bill: Lock Up (1989) – Stallone prison double feature. Shea says watch Tango & Cash first, then Lock Up – 'it gets darker.'

• Shea: Owen's prototype guard dog with the gun in its mouth that explodes.
• Bill: The two belts that 'Tango and Cash' used for the zipline escape.

Shea: If your feet aren't touching the ground, you won't get electrocuted by a power line – that's why birds and squirrels don't get shocked.

Both agree: Kurt Russell won the movie.